Tuesday AM Recap 8/27: Riverfront Park Bridges

The bridges in Riverfront Park are not just a great part of the park visiting experience, they are also vital bike riding and walking links for our City, a City that has precious few places for those using non-motorized to cross our river. Some of these bridges have not been properly inspected since they were built for Expo’74 some forty years ago. In many cases inspection requires climbing work on ropes or underwater inspections which are beyond the City’s standard inspection capability. After the I-5 bridge disaster earlier this year it was clearly time for renewed attention to our vital bridge infrastructure. I worked with Rep. Marcus Riccelli to include bridge inspection funds for Spokane in a new transportation package, but when that package was killed by Majority Coalition Caucus in the State Senate I had to get more creative in finding funding. Working with Councilman Allen, I put together an Emergency Budget Ordinance to get the Riverfront Park Bridges inspected now instead of later. That action passed unanimously last night.

Also passing unanimously was a new Low Impact Development Ordinance. This ordinance offers incentives for more environmentally friendly treatment of storm water. This is a part of a settlement the City made with local environmental advocates to work to reduce toxic PCB contamination in our river. The ordinance was the result of hard work by City staff in collaboration with groups as diverse at the Spokane Riverkeeper and the Spokane Homebuilders Association. It’s a nice step forward for the City.